Lyttelton (Māori: ''Ōhinehou'') is a
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
town on the north shore of
Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō
Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand; the other is Akaroa Harbour on the southern coast. It enters from the northern coast of the peninsula, heading in a pred ...
, at the northwestern end of
Banks Peninsula
Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest cit ...
and close to
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, on the eastern coast of the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
of New Zealand.
As a landing point for Christchurch-bound seafarers, Lyttelton has historically been regarded as the "Gateway to Canterbury" for colonial settlers.
Until the
2020 coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, the port has been a regular destination for
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s. It is the South Island's principal goods-transport terminal, handling 34% of exports and 61% of imports by value.
In 2009 Lyttelton was awarded Category I Historic Area status by the
Historic Places Trust
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...
(NZHPT) defined as "an area of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value", not long before much of the historic fabric was destroyed in the
2011 Christchurch earthquake
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...
.
Location
Lyttelton is the largest settlement on Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō, an inlet on the northwestern side of Banks Peninsula extending 18 km inland from the southern end of
Pegasus Bay
Pegasus Bay, earlier known as Cook's Mistake, is a bay on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, to the north of Banks Peninsula.
Toponymy
Pegasus Bay takes its name from the brig ''Pegasus'', a sealing ship that was sailing fro ...
. The town is situated on the lower slopes of the
Port Hills
The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago.
The hi ...
, which form the northern side of the harbour and effectively separate Lyttelton from the city of Christchurch.
This steep-sided crater rim acts as a
natural amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
and a boundary to urban development.
A tunnel through the Port Hills provides direct road access to Christchurch, 12 km to the northwest. The town of Sumner, some 6 km to the northeast, is accessed via Evans Pass, this link was closed after the
2011 Christchurch earthquake
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...
and reopened on 29 March 2019. Another settlement at Governors Bay lies 10 km to the west and a frequent ferry service connects the suburb of
Diamond Harbour
Diamond Harbour () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River. It is the headquarters of the Diamond Harbour subdivision.
Histor ...
on the southern shore of the harbour.
The uninhabited
Ōtamahua / Quail Island
Quail Island ( mi, Ōtamahua or ) officially Ōtamahua / Quail Island is an uninhabited island within Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō in the South Island of New Zealand, close to Christchurch. The island was given its European name by Captain Wi ...
sits in the upper harbour southwest of Lyttelton.
Settlement
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
recorded his sighting of
Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō
Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand; the other is Akaroa Harbour on the southern coast. It enters from the northern coast of the peninsula, heading in a pred ...
in 1770 during the
first voyage to New Zealand. The first ship recorded entering the harbour was the sealer "Pegasus" in 1809.
Aiming to establish a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
colony in New Zealand, the
Canterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by members of parliament, peers, and Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, with its capital to be known as Christchurch. ...
was founded in 1848 and was led by George William Lyttelton (
George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton
George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton, 4th Baron Westcote, (31 March 1817 – 19 April 1876) was an English aristocrat and Conservative politician from the Lyttelton family. He was chairman of the Canterbury Association, which encourag ...
). The town was named after the
Lyttelton family
The Lyttelton family (sometimes spelled Littleton) is a British nobility, British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Lyttelton family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Lyttelton family inclu ...
in 1858. The large amount of flat land on the other side of the Port Hill, suitable for farming and development, made it ideal as a port town for a colony.
Joseph Thomas, as the agent of the Canterbury Association and its chief surveyor, was in charge of preparing the settlement for the
settler
A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...
s. He initially placed the port town at
Rapaki and the settlement's capital,
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, at the head of the harbour at present-day
Teddington
Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...
.
But none of these initial ideas proved feasible, as Rapaki was not available, as it had been promised to Maori as a reserve, and required reclamation at the head of the harbour for the capital was estimated as too expensive.
Early survey work in Lyttelton was done by Thomas and
Charles Torlesse
Charles Obins Torlesse (2 May 1825 – 14 November 1866) was a prominent surveyor for the Canterbury Association in Canterbury, New Zealand.
Biography
Torlesse was born in Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, England, in 1825. He was the eldest son of ...
, but most of it until completion in September 1849 was done by
Edward Jollie
Edward Jollie (1 September 1825 – 7 August 1894) was a pioneer land surveyor in New Zealand, initially as a cadet surveyor with the New Zealand Company. The Christchurch Central City is laid out to his survey.
Biography
Jollie was born in ...
. In his diary, Jollie explains how the streets got their names:
The names of the streets of the three towns I surveyed were taken from Bishoprics and the way it was done was this; as soon as I completed the map I took it to Thomas who putting on his gold spectacles and opening his would read out a Bishop's name to hear if it sounded well. If I agreed with him that it did, I put the name to one of the streets requiring baptism.
Lyttelton being the first-born town got the best names for its streets, Sumner
Sumner may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica
* Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica
Australia
* Sumner, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane
New Zealand
* Sumner, New Zealand, seaside sub ...
being next had the next best and Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
being the youngest had to be content with chiefly Irish and Colonial bishoprics as names for its streets. This accounts for, what to anyone not knowing the circumstances, appears strange, viz: that many of the best English Bishoprics are not represented ditorial note: not represented "in Christchurch"while Irish and Colonial ones are.
In August 1849 it was officially proclaimed a
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
. Pilgrim's Rock shows the place where European settlers first set foot in the harbour. The present location of the rock is well inland from the sea, as much of Lyttelton's dockside has been reclaimed from the harbour waters in recent years.
In 1850, four ships (the ''Randolph, Cressy, Sir George Seymour,'' and ''Charlotte Jane)'' arrived in Lyttelton Harbour, carrying the first what was to be known as the 'Canterbury pilgrims'.
The arrival of the four ships had swelled Lyttelton's population to around 1,100.
Over the next three years, 3,549 settlers arrived in Lyttelton.
Lyttelton was formerly called Port Cooper (after
Daniel Cooper) and Port Victoria. It was the original settlement in the district (1850). The name Lyttelton was formalised by the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
in 1858 in honour of
George William Lyttelton
The Honourable, The Hon George William Lyttelton (6 January 1883 – 1 May 1962) was a British teacher and ''littérateur'' from the Lyttelton family. Known in his lifetime as an inspiring teacher of classics and English literature at Eton C ...
of the Canterbury Association, which had led the colonisation of the area.
19th and 20th century
![Telegraph Office in Lyttelton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Telegraph_Office_in_Lyttelton.jpg)
The ''
Lyttelton Times
The ''Lyttelton Times'' was the first newspaper in Canterbury, New Zealand, publishing the first edition in January 1851. It was established by the Canterbury Association as part of its planned settlement of Canterbury and developed into a libera ...
'' was one of the principal
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
s of the Canterbury region for 80 years, published from 1851 until 1929, at which time it became the ''Christchurch Times'', until publication ceased in 1935.
On 1 July 1862, the first
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
transmission in New Zealand was made from Lyttelton Post Office.
On 1 January 1908, the
Nimrod Expedition
The ''Nimrod'' Expedition of 1907–1909, otherwise known as the British Antarctic Expedition, was the first of three successful expeditions to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton and his second expedition to the Antarctic. Its main target, ...
, headed by
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...
to explore
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
left from the harbour here.
The
Lyttelton Harbour Board
The Lyttelton Harbour Board was established on 10 January 1877 to manage Lyttelton Harbour. The harbour had previously been managed by the Canterbury Provincial Council, but provincial government ceased to exist on 1 January 1877. The harbour boa ...
was created in 1877 to be in charge of the harbour's management. It was dissolved in 1989 after the passing of the 1988 Port Companies Act, which forced it to split into two separate organisations, one commercial (the Lyttelton Port Company, currently owned by
Christchurch City Holdings
Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL) is a wholly owned investment arm of the Christchurch City Council. The council controlled trading organisations (CCTO) own and run some of the important infrastructure in Christchurch, such as the public t ...
, the commercial arm of the city council) and one non-commercial. In 1996 the Lyttelton Port Company registered on the
New Zealand Stock Exchange
New Zealand's Exchange (), known commonly as the NZX, is the national stock exchange for New Zealand and a publicly owned company. NZX is the parent company of Smartshares, and Wealth Technologies.
On 30 August 2020, the NZX had a total of 1 ...
.
1870 Lyttelton Fire
On 24 October 1870, a fire broke out in the Queen's Hotel on London Street and had soon engulfed the main centre of Lyttelton. Prisoners of the Lyttelton Gaol were let out from their cells to help combat the flames. Two thirds of Lyttelton had been destroyed, with 30 businesses in all having perished in the fire, along with many private homes.
Lyttelton Timeball Station
The
Lyttelton Timeball Station
The Lyttelton Timeball Station is a heritage-registered time ball station and prominent local landmark in Lyttelton, New Zealand. The original station was significantly damaged by a series of earthquakes and aftershocks in 2010 and 2011, and ...
was erected in 1876 and started signalling
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the Local mean time, mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, i ...
to ships in the harbour that year. It was one of the world's five working
timeball stations until it was destroyed by the
June 2011 Christchurch earthquake
The June 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a shallow magnitude 6.0 earthquake that occurred on 13 June 2011 at 14:20 NZST (02:20 UTC). It was centred at a Hypocenter, depth of , about 5 km (3 mi) south-east of Christchurch, which had p ...
. The castle-like building was located high on a ridge above the port with extensive views over the harbour. The tower, but not the rest of the building, has been faithfully reconstructed and was once again in working order at the end of 2018.
2010–2011 earthquakes
![Timeball station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Timeball_station.jpg)
The
2010 Canterbury earthquake
The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity scale. Som ...
damaged some of Lyttelton's historic buildings, including the
Timeball Station.
There was some damage to the town's infrastructure, but the port facilities and tunnel quickly returned to operation. The overall quake damage was less significant than in Christchurch itself, due to the dampening effects of the solid rock that the town rests on and its moderate distance from the epicentre.
On a magnitude 6.3
aftershock
In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...
caused much more widespread damage in Lyttelton than its predecessor due to its proximity to Lyttelton and a shallow depth of .
Some walls of the Timeball Station collapsed and there was extensive damage to residential and commercial property, leading to the demolition of a number of high-profile heritage buildings such as the Harbour Light Theatre and the Empire Hotel. Many other unreinforced masonry buildings were severely damaged.
Following the February earthquake it was suggested that the Timeball Station be dismantled for safety reasons.
Bruce Chapman, chief executive of the
New Zealand Historic Places Trust
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...
(NZHPT) said there was a possibility that it may be reconstructed. "If we can find a way to dismantle the Timeball Station that allows us to retain as much of the building's materials as possible, we will do so."
However, on Monday 13 June 2011 a further 6.3 aftershock brought down the tower and remaining walls while workmen were preparing to dismantle it.
Much of Lyttelton's architectural heritage was lost as a result of the earthquakes, as damage was deemed too extensive for reconstruction. By June 2011, six buildings in London Street in Lyttelton had been demolished, along with another four on Norwich Quay.
The town's oldest churches have collapsed, including Canterbury's oldest stone church, the Holy Trinity.
Following the demolition of Holy Trinity Church,
St Saviour's Chapel
St Saviour's at Holy Trinity is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton, Christchurch, New Zealand. St Saviour's Chapel was relocated from West Lyttelton to Christchurch's Cathedral Grammar School in the 1970s. Follow ...
was returned to Lyttelton to the site of Holy Trinity in 2013. The wooden St Saviour's Chapel had been relocated from West Lyttelton to Christchurch's Cathedral Grammar School in the 1970s. The Anglican church is now named St Saviour's at Holy Trinity.
Demographics
Lyttelton is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a small urban area. Including the neighbouring communities of
Rapaki, Cass Bay and Corsair Bay, it covers .
It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
Lyttelton had a population of 2,982 at the
2018 New Zealand census
Eighteen or 18 may refer to:
* 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19
* one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
Film, television and entertainment
* ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 216 people (7.8%) since the
2013 census, and a decrease of 9 people (-0.3%) since the
2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 1,269 households. There were 1,464 males and 1,518 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female. The median age was 44.8 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 492 people (16.5%) aged under 15 years, 372 (12.5%) aged 15 to 29, 1,698 (56.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 420 (14.1%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 92.6% European/Pākehā, 10.1% Māori, 1.0% Pacific peoples, 3.2% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).
The proportion of people born overseas was 26.3%, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 66.1% had no religion, 22.1% were Christian, 0.3% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 1.1% were Buddhist and 3.1% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 888 (35.7%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 261 (10.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $39,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,353 (54.3%) people were employed full-time, 450 (18.1%) were part-time, and 69 (2.8%) were unemployed.
Governance
![Lyttelton 29](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Lyttelton_29.jpg)
On 19 November 2005, it was announced that 60% of the
Banks Peninsula District
The Banks Peninsula District is a former territorial authority in New Zealand.
Banks Peninsula District was formed through the 1989 local government reforms. It amalgamated with the Christchurch City Council in March 2006. It was governed by a m ...
ratepayers voted to amalgamate with the neighbouring
Christchurch City Council
The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who ...
, which took place on 6 March 2006. This resulted in the creation of a new Christchurch City Council seat for the new ward of Banks Peninsula, and the creation of two
Community Boards, the Lyttelton/Mt Herbert Community Board encompassing Lyttelton, Rapaki, Governors Bay, Diamond Harbour and Port Levy, and the Akaroa/Wairewa Community Board, encompassing Akaroa, Little River, Birdlings Flat, and the settlements of the Eastern and Southern Bays of Banks Peninsula. The Akaroa/Wairewa Community Board was further divided into two subdivisions, namely the Akaroa subdivision, and the Wairewa subdivision.
Transport
The town is linked to Christchurch by railway and road tunnels through the
Port Hills
The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago.
The hi ...
. At 1.9 km long, the
Lyttelton road tunnel
The Lyttelton road tunnel runs through the Port Hills to connect the New Zealand city of Christchurch and its seaport, Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton. It opened in 1964 and carries just over 10,000 vehicles per day as part of New Zealan ...
(opened in 1964) was the
country's longest road tunnel, until the
Waterview Tunnel
The Waterview Tunnel is a twin road tunnel in central Auckland, New Zealand. At long, it is New Zealand's longest road tunnel. The tunnel, with three lanes of road vehicle traffic in each direction, connects State Highway 20 in the south at Mo ...
in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
opened in July 2017; and the
railway tunnel
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
of the
Lyttelton Line
Lyttelton Line is a name sometimes used to refer to the section of the Main South Line in New Zealand's South Island between Lyttelton and Christchurch, and can also be used to refer to the operations on this section. As it has always been par ...
section of the
Main South Line
The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...
, officially opened on 9 December 1867, is the country's oldest.
Lyttelton Port
![Lyttelton Fishing boats](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Lyttelton_Fishing_boats.jpg)
Lyttelton has long been the main port of the Canterbury / Christchurch area, having been opened in 1877 by the
Lyttelton Harbour Board
The Lyttelton Harbour Board was established on 10 January 1877 to manage Lyttelton Harbour. The harbour had previously been managed by the Canterbury Provincial Council, but provincial government ceased to exist on 1 January 1877. The harbour boa ...
, later becoming the
Lyttelton Port Company Lyttelton may refer to:
Places
*Lyttelton, New Zealand, a town in New Zealand
**Lyttelton Harbour
**Lyttelton road tunnel, New Zealand
*Lyttelton (New Zealand electorate)
*Lyttelton, Gauteng, a suburb of Centurion in Gauteng Province, South Africa ...
with the introduction of the Port Companies Act in 1988.
Between 1958 and 1967 the port saw such prosperity that
Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River. It is con ...
, on the coast north of Christchurch, briefly reopened its closed port facilities for a decade, to allow smaller ships to bypass the congested Lyttelton wharves.
In the 1970s the port was chosen as one of the main ports in the South Island to be dredged and upgraded for
containerisation
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pro ...
, with the container facility opening in 1977, the centenary of the initial opening.
Substantial quantities of South Island coal have been shipped from this port for the past 100 years.
The port facilities have provided for LP gas and petrol for the past 50 years. In essence the port could be viewed (based on quantities of materials shipped in or out) as the primary port for energy shipments in the South Island.
Education
Lyttelton Primary School is a full primary school catering for years 1 to 8. It had a roll of as of The school was created in 2014 by a merger of Lyttelton West and Lyttelton Main schools.
In popular culture
Lyttelton was the location for most of the exterior scenes in
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
's 1996 horror movie ''
The Frighteners
''The Frighteners'' is a 1996 supernatural comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with Fran Walsh. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Dee Wallace Stone, Jeffrey Combs, R. Lee Ermey ...
''.
Paul Theroux
Paul Edward Theroux (born April 10, 1941) is an American novelist and travel writer who has written numerous books, including the travelogue, '' The Great Railway Bazaar'' (1975). Some of his works of fiction have been adapted as feature films. He ...
described Lyttelton as having "pretty houses" but was frustrated by having to cycle over the
Port Hills
The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago.
The hi ...
to get back to
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
as cycling through the Lyttelton tunnel is not permitted and told his wife "what an awful time I was having".
Notable people
*
Edith Alma Eileen Savell
Edith Alma Eileen Savell (1883–1970) was a New Zealand farmer and volunteer nurse. She was born in Lyttelton, Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated i ...
(1883–1970), farmer and volunteer nurse
References
Sources
*
External links
Lyttelton Harbour visitor informationLyttelton Community Portal
Lyttelton Port CompanyFirst issue of Lyttelton Times, 1851
{{Authority control
Populated places in Canterbury, New Zealand
Port cities in New Zealand
NZHPT Category I listings in Canterbury, New Zealand
1848 establishments in New Zealand